Chapter 26 · The Camp That Moves

"You're bleeding supplies."

Aldric's voice cut through the morning cold before I even saw him. I turned from the supply count—thirty-two sacks of grain, down from forty yesterday—and found him standing at the edge of my tent line like he owned the snow under his boots.

"Good morning to you too," I said.

"Your scouts are running double routes. Your sentries are pulling triple shifts. You're burning through food faster than you can replace it." He stepped closer, close enough that I could see the frost on his collar. "You've got two weeks. Maybe three if you start rationing hard."

I crossed my arms. "Thanks for the audit. Send me your bill."

"I'm not here to mock you, Lynn."

"Could've fooled me."

He stopped three feet away. The numbers floated over his head—[Morale: 87] [Loyalty: Clan-bound] [Threat Assessment: Escalating]. That last one kept ticking up every time we talked.

"I'm here," he said, "because I have six wagons of grain sitting in a depot two days north. And you need them."

I felt Virrak shift behind me.